Queen of the Verdi Club | Carolyn Gregory

The ladies with lorgnettes and poodles adored her,
fêted with mushrooms and crudités
for every popular concert she sponsored,
creating tableaux vivants
in flowing gowns and wings.
She was lavish in praise with high hopes,
taking music seriously in her forties,
soprano hostess and friends
with Caruso and Toscanini.
Many knew she had a tin ear,
flatting at every interval with poor diction,
singing St. Saens and Mozart out of tune
with most everything
while offering her wide embrace of
an audience of soldiers and aristocrats,
wearing a diamond tiara for every song sung
at the Ritz-Carlton,
her face framed by chandeliers
of pure gold light.